Hinweise zur Catholic Encyclopedia
Pope St. Miltiades
The year of his birth is not known; he was elected pope in either 310 or 311;
died 10 or 11 January, 314. After the banishment of Pope Eusebius, the Roman See
was vacant for some time, probably because of the complications which has arisen
on account of the apostates (lapsi), and which were not cleared up by the
banishment of Eusebius and Heraclius. On 2 July, 310 or 311, Miltiadea (the name
is also written Melchiades), a native of Africa, was elevated to the papacy.
There is some uncertainty as to the exact year, as the Liberian Catalogue of
the Popes
(Duchesne, Liber Pontificalis
, I, 9) gives 2 July, 311, as the date
of the consecration of the new pope (ex die VI non. iul. a cons. Maximiliano
VIII solo, quod fuit mense septembri Volusiano et Rufino); but in contradiction
to this the death of the pope is said to have occurred on 2 January, 314, and
the duration of the pontificate is given as three years, six months and eight
days; possibly owing to the mistake of a copyist, we ought to read ann. II
instead of ann. III
; and therefore the year of his elevation to the papacy was
most probably 311. About this time (311 or 310), an edict of toleration signed
by the Emperors Galerius, Licinius, and Constantine, put an end to the great
persecution of the Christians, and they were permitted to live as such, and also
to reconstruct their places of religious worship (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl.
, VIII,
xvii; Lactantius, De mortibus persecutorum
, xxxiv). Only in those countries of
the Orient which were under the sway of Maximinus Daia did the Christians
continue to be persecuted. The emperor now gave Pope Miltiades in Rome the right
to receive back, through the prefect of the city, all ecclesiastical buildings
and possessions which had been confiscated during the persecutions. The two
Roman deacons, Strato and Cassianus, were ordered by the pope to discuss this
matter with the prefect, and to take over the church properties (Augustinus,
Breviculus collationis cum Donatistis
, iii, 34); it thus became possible to
reorganize thoroughly the ecclesiastical administration and the religious life
of the Christians in Rome.
Miltiades caused the remains of his predecessor, Eusebius, to be brought back
from Sicily to Rome, and had them interred in a crypt in the Catacombs of St.
Callistus. In the following year the pope witnessed the final triumph of the
Cross, through the defeat of Maxentius, and the entry into Rome of the Emperor
Constantine (now converted to Christianity), after the victory at the Milvian
Bridge (27 October, 312). Later the emperor presented the Roman Church with the
Lateran Palace, which then became the residence of the pope, and consequently
also the seat of the seat of the central administration of the Roman Church. The
basilica which adjoined the palace or was afterwards built there became the
principal church of Rome. In 313 the Donatists (q.v.) came to Constantine with a
request to nominate bishops from Gaul as judges in the controversy of the
African episcopate regarding the consecration in Carthage of the two bishops,
Cæcilian and Majorinus. Constantine wrote about this to Miltiades, and also to
Marcus, requesting the pope with three bishops from Gaul to give a hearing in
Rome, to Cæcilian and his opponent, and to decide the case. On 2 October, 313,
there assembled in the Lateran Palace, under the presidency of Miltiades, a
synod of eighteen bishops from Gaul and Italy, which, after thoroughly
considring the Donatist controversy for three days, decided in favor of Cæcilian,
whose election and consecration as Bishop of Carthage was declared to be
legitimate. In the biography of Miltiades, in the Liber Pontificalis
, it is
stated that at the time Manichæans were found in Rome; this was quite possible
as Manichæism began to be spread in the West in the fourth century. The same
source attributes to this pope a decree which absolutely forbade the Christians
to fast on Sundays or on Thursdays, because these days were observed by the
heathen as a holy fast
. This reason is remarkable; it comes most likely from
the author of the Liber Pontificalis
who with this alleged decree traces back
a Roman custom of his own time to an ordinance of Miltiades. The Liber
Pontificalis
is probably no less arbitrary in crediting this pope with a decree
to the effect that the Oblation consecrated at the Solemn Mass of the pope (by
which is meant the Eucharistic Bread) should be taken to the different churches
in Rome. Such a custom actually existed in Rome (Duchesne, Christian Worship,
London, 1903, 185); but there is nothing definite to show that it was introduced
by Miltiades, as the Liber Pontificalis
asserts.
After his death, on 10 or 11 January (the Liberian Catalogue give it as III
id. jan.; the Depositio Episcoporum
as IIII id. jan.), 314, Miltiades was laid
to rest in the Catacomb of St. Callistus and he was venerated as a saint. De
Rossi regards as highly probably his [this] location of this pope's
burial-chamber (Roma Sotterranea, II, 188 sq.). His feast was celebrated in the
fourth century, on 10 January, according to the Martyrologium Hieronymianum
.
In the present Roman Martyrology
it occurs on 10 December.
Liber Pontificalis, ed Duchesne, I, l68-196; Urbain, Ein Martyrologium der christl. Gemeinde zu Rom (Leipzig, 1901), 118-119; Langen, Geschichte der römischen Kirche, I, 328 sqq.; Allard, Histoire des persécutions, V, 200, 203; Duchesne, Histoire ancienne de l'Eglise, II, 96, 97, 110-112.
Heiligenlexikon als USB-Stick oder als DVD
Unterstützung für das Ökumenische Heiligenlexikon
Artikel kommentieren / Fehler melden
Suchen bei amazon: Bücher über Catholic Encyclopedia - Pope St. Miltiades
Wikipedia: Artikel über Catholic Encyclopedia - Pope St. Miltiades
Fragen? - unsere FAQs antworten!
Impressum - Datenschutzerklärung
korrekt zitieren: Artikel Catholic Encyclopedia - Pope St. Miltiades, aus dem Ökumenischen Heiligenlexikon - https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/CatholicEncyclopedia/Miltiades_Melachiades.html, abgerufen am 22. 12. 2024
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet das Ökumenische Heiligenlexikon in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über https://d-nb.info/1175439177 und https://d-nb.info/969828497 abrufbar.